A Terrible Fate
by Fionnabhair Nic Aillil
Summary: Once upon a time, a dark haired boy saved a little girl from a terrible fate. And then he did it again... and again.
1. Chapter One

A Terrible Fate

It was a stormy evening just before Halloween, and Cedric was having a quick chat with a few friends from Ravenclaw in the Entrance Hall, when a small girl with flaming red hair came running through the door, tripped and fell.

Some of the older students laughed, but she looked to be on the verge of tears from the humiliation, and Cedric hunkered down beside her. As he picked up her schoolbag she shook her hair out of her eyes and swallowed a sob. He smiled at her and said, "You're Fred and George's sister aren't you."

She sniffed slightly. "How did you know?"

"It's the hair – it's very distinctive. I'm Cedric – I'm intheir year."

"Oh – I remember. You live near us."

He grinned. "That's right – only I never saw you. You were always off climbing trees or something. It's Ginny, isn't it?"

"Yeah." She still sounded close to tears and for the first time he suspected there was something upsetting her, other than the embarrassment. He looked at her again – her robes and hood were soaked, feathers clung to her sleeves, and she had several painful looking cuts on her hands. She was trembling.

"Are you all right?" He said.

Tears were in increasing evidence on her face and she said, "I'm really fine – it's just, I'm all wet… And my hand hurts, and I had a fight with my friend, and I can't remember the way back to my Common Room."

He helped her stand up, brushing the feathers (heaven knew where they came from) off her cloak, and asked. "What's your friends name?"

"Tom." She sobbed loudly this time.

"And what did you fight about? If you don't mind telling me that is."

"Oh, it was something stupid. He wanted me to tell him something – nothing bad, just something…private, and I didn't want to, and he said I was…"

Ginny broke off suddenly, and hugged herself, taking several deep breaths. She glared up at him suddenly and said, "It's not funny you know."

"I don't think it's funny…I'm not laughing."

She sniffed again. "Fred and George always laugh, but I can't find them." Clearly he needed to get her back to her Common Room, and to this Tom, whoever _he_ was, otherwise she would really get upset.

Cedric frequently had reason to be grateful he was tall, and he craned his neck now, trying to see if there was another Weasley around. It took several moments, during which Ginny found herself a tissue and dried her face, but eventually he found the youngest boy, the one who hung around with Harry Potter.

"Oi! Weasley!"

The boy looked around until he saw Ginny, whereupon he swiftly made his way over, glaring at Cedric as he came. Even though she cleaned herself up, there were still traces of tears on her face.

"What have you done to her!"

He was tall for a Second Year, and his voice was so fierce that Cedric had to swallow an impulse to laugh. He was about to defend himself when Ginny said, in a much louder voice than she had used before, "He hasn't done anything Ron!"

"Well what's wrong with you then?"

Ginny seemed to struggle for words, and Cedric interjected, "She got a bit lost. You know what the castle is like."

Ron scoffed. "I can't believe you don't know your way back to the Common Room still, Ginny."

The curly-haired girl looked at him scornfully. "Don't be stupid Ron – we'll bring you back Ginny."

She shifted uncomfortably and said, "I don't want to make you late…"

Harry Potter interrupted her, having joined the others only seconds before, saying, "It's fine Ginny."

And she flushed right up to her hairline. Suddenly Cedric knew exactly what the 'something private' was. It was slightly comic, especially as Harry Potter was, quite chivalrously, ignoring her embarrassment, but having discovered girls that year, Cedric couldn't really laugh at it either.

They turned to go, but Cedric managed to find time to say, "And Ginny – if he's really your friend, he won't mind that you didn't want to tell him. Just say you're sorry."

She smiled then, a beautiful, childish, slightly tremulous smile and said, "Thanks. You're really nice."

And then she ran to catch up with her brother and his friends, all thoughts of tears forgotten.


	2. Chapter Two

Cedric was absolutely soaked, so wet that when he held his right hand up, water dripped from his glove. It had been a horrendous day, between the arrival of the Dementors at the Quidditch match, the sudden shock of seeing Harry Potter lying crumpled on the ground and Madam Hooch's stubborn resistance to the idea of a rematch. He'd seen the devastated look on the faces of the Gryffindor team's faces and he couldn't blame them – by rights they probably should have won that match, and it was only the intervention of the Dementors that had tipped the balance.

Still, even Oliver Wood, who ate, drank and breathed Quidditch, had been relatively gracious, and they had been informed that Harry Potter had suffered no permanent damage, so Cedric wasn't going to torment himself any longer. He got changed quickly, pulling a heavy sweatshirt on under his robes; he didn't know if it was because of the Dementors or the soaking he'd received, but he still felt a deathly chill.

Well, thankfully his Mum had sent him a large bar of chocolate in the post that morning, and as soon as he found the blasted thing he was going to cram it all into his mouth, whether or not anyone was watching.

He was rummaging through his bag in an attempt to find it when he almost tripped over a girl huddled in the stands. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to miss her, as she was sitting under an immense black umbrella, but chalked it up to his urgent search for chocolate.

She seemed undamaged, but he ducked to make sure – it would be the perfect addition to an already unfortunate day to discover he had broken some poor girl's sternum. Bending down to see under the umbrella brim, Cedric saw the distinctive red hair of the youngest Weasley. Her face was dead white, and she was trembling all over.

"Hey!" he said, "Hey, are you all right?" He had to shout over the howling of the wind, but it seemed he had finally got her attention.

Her head snapped up to look at him, and she said, her lower lip trembling, "Sorry?"

"I just tripped over you there, nearly. I hope I didn't hurt you."

She looked out over the Quidditch pitch absently. "No," she said, "I'm fine."

Cedric was inclined to disagree – someone who was fine did not sit out in the rain when they already cold and unhappy. He sat down beside her, saying, "Budge over for a second, would you?"

She seemed surprised, but moved quickly, offering him the shelter of her umbrella. They sat for a moment, listening to the rain tapping on the thin skin of material before she said, "You played a good game today."

"Oh. Do you like Quidditch?"

A ghost of a smile crossed her face. "I love it."

"Do you have a favourite team?"

She sighed. "No, not really. I mean, I like to watch the Harpies to pick things up but…"

Her voice trailed off, and Cedric nudged her. "What's wrong?" he said.

"I _hate_ Dementors."

Her fists were clenched in her lap, and Cedric suddenly realised the reason behind her pale face and shaking limbs. He hadn't forgotten that she had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets only the year before – Fred and George had supposedly been absolutely devastated, and, for possibly the first time in their lives, silent. No one had been insensitive enough to ask her how or why it had happened, but he had sense enough to guess that it must have been far from pleasant.

She was still shivering, and having finally found the bar of chocolate, he broke it in half and gave the larger piece to her. She took it gratefully and bit deep – as soon as she swallowed he could see it take effect. A flush rose through her skin, her hands stopped shaking, and she sat up straight for the first time.

"Thank you," she said. "You're always so nice."

Cedric snorted, and she looked at him sharply. "What?" she said, "When did that become a bad thing to say? There is nothing wrong with being nice. I'd rather be nice than be…I hate Dementors. Did you see what they did to Harry?"

Cedric winced – it had been a terrible shock to look back, expecting to see his housemates cheering his unexpected victory, only to see his body crumpled on the ground.

Ginny Weasley however was still chattering on about Harry Potter. "…And he hates Dementors even more than I do – I didn't even think that was possible – and now he's stuck up there with Madam Pomfrey, and I think that'd only make him feel more miserable. I mean, who wouldn't?"

He looked at her sideways. "Is that why you were sitting out here, instead of going up to the Hospital Wing?"

She managed a smile. "Yeah. I much prefer getting chocolate from you to be honest. And Percy would only fuss. He's as bad as Mum that way."

Cedric swallowed a laugh – most people in the school, excepting the more obnoxious Slytherins, spoke of the Head Boy with more respect, but obviously that did not include his sister.

She grinned up at him, and said, "A pity you couldn't have doctored him – Hermione says he hates the Hospital Wing."

He swallowed a sigh – clearly she still fancied Potter, although given the fact that the younger boy had actually rescued her from the Chamber and a Basilisk, with only a sword, it was more than understandable.

"Well," he said, "Maybe you could do something to cheer him up."

She hopped up, excited, and said, "Oh…I know just what to do…That's _such _a good idea. Thank you."

He shook his head, but grinned all the same. He couldn't help but find it cute. Smiling, he asked, "Can I beg a spot under your umbrella?"

"Of course," Ginny said, "Only, you should probably carry it. I'm so small I'd probably poke your eye out."

He laughed, taking the umbrella, and offering her his other arm for the walk across the pitch.


	3. Chapter Three

Cedric made his way over to the bar, smiling at Cho where she chattered with her friends across the dance-floor. He couldn't seem to stop himself from smiling – his date with Cho was going wonderfully, he hadn't tripped over his own feet while dancing, and he couldn't feel excitement swirling in his stomach. She was busy now, and instead of listening to her conversation, which, if Cedric knew anything about girls, would be about him, he'd decided to get a Butterbeer, and have a quick look for Harry Potter.

With that objective in mind he craned his neck to see over the crowd, but gave it up as a bad job – the crowd was simply too dense, and while Harry's hair made him rather distinctive, he wasn't tall enough to really stand out.

Clutching two Butterbeers Cedric stepped down from the bar, but froze where he stood – he could see three members of his 'fan club' approaching, and, rightly or not, he was in no mood for it tonight.

Thinking quickly he ducked behind Professors Moody and Sinistra, and weaved his way through the forest of tables. Most people were on the dance floor at this point, except for one redheaded girl who sat with her back to him, nursing one of her feet. Guessing whom it was, Cedric strode over and said, "Is this seat taken?"

She seemed surprised at the question, but nodded, smiling up at him. Her shoes were on the floor beside her, but though she looked very well, there was no trace of a partner. He sat down quickly, putting one hand up to shield his face from any attention.

"Are you having a good night?" Ginny asked.

Cedric grimaced as he saw the girls walk past, clearly aggravated he had eluded them. Ginny's eyes followed them, and she giggled at the sight.

"Don't," he said, "They might hear and come back."

He pushed one of his Butterbeers over to her, and she accepted it gratefully, as he said, "So, what happened to your feet?"

Ginny sighed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "Neville happened. I mean … he really tried, he's just not the most … coordinated."

"He's in your brother's year, right?"

"Yeah … don't get me wrong, he's really nice, just … I'm only in third year."

He nodded. "Where is he now?"

She sighed resignedly, though with a trace of a smile on her face, "Oh, he tripped on some spilled Butterbeer – Madam Pomfrey took him up to fix the bruises. I don't think he'll be long. Anyway, how come you're not with Cho?"

"How did you know about that?"

She looked incredulous. "You're a Champion – I mean, even if the gossip hadn't spread it around already, you were up on the High Table."

He laughed and said, "Sorry. She's off with a few friends of hers – I think I'd be a bit in the way. You know the way girls get."

Ginny was scanning the crowd as she said, "Yeah. I wonder where Hermione's got to? She said she'd come over but … well, maybe she got distracted."

He suddenly felt a little sorry for her – she was the only third year he knew of who'd come to the Ball, and he couldn't help but think she might feel a little lonely. He looked up to see if Hermione Granger was anywhere in view, and saw Cho waving at him from across the hall. Struck by a good idea he looked at Ginny again and said, "Can you do me a favour?"

She smiled. "Of course."

"Dance with me?"

Her jaw actually dropped, and she stared at him as he continued, "I want to get back over to Cho, but I'd also like to avoid that crowd that just went past, so …"

Ginny laughed, and bent down to pull her shoes back on. "All right," she said, "Though I can't believe you're scared of a bunch of girls … They only want your autograph you know – and maybe a lock of your hair."

He looked at her levelly, and she burst put laughing. "All right, I'm joking."

Cedric stood up, and offered her his hand with a bow. She took it, smiling at him, though he thought he could see a trace of embarrassment in her eyes, which only intensified when one of the twins whistled at them. Still, he did actually know how to dance, and so he was able to swing her around quite confidently, and without stepping on her feet.

They had reached Cho and her friends by the end of the song, and she seemed to know what he'd had in mind, for instantly she introduced Ginny to her friends, who seemed to accept her quite easily. Within moments she was discussing the Quidditch World Cup with a dark-haired fourth year, and Cedric was able to dance with his girlfriend.

Cho grinned at him as he put his arm around her and said, "That was really nice of you. She looked a bit lonely."

Cedric shrugged, trying to look as though it didn't matter, as though hearing her say those words in such a loving tone didn't affect him, and said casually, "Well, she's a nice kid."


End file.
